Jim Cramer -- VeriFone Is in the 'Sweet Spot' Ahead of Earnings

TheStreet's Jim Cramer says VeriFone is one of his favorites, which is why he is keeping an eye on its shares ahead of its earnings results after the close Thursday.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- TheStreet's Jim Cramer said VeriFone (PAY) is one of his favorite companies, and that is why he is watching shares ahead of the technology company's second-quarter earnings release after the Thursday close.

Cramer said VeriFone, which provides technology for electronic payment transactions in the "sweet spot." However, he thinks it's curious VeriFone announced a deal with Visa (V) Wednesday, just one day before reporting earnings. He thought that could also be a sign of other good things to come.

Cramer said it's time to be aggressive on the shares and to buy half now and buy half after the company reports. The new partnership between VeriFone and Visa will allow retailers to offer customers a more secure and more streamlined purchase experience for both digital and face-to-face transactions, he noted. Securely managing these transactions has become critical for retailers as they look to keep customer's personal payment data safe.

For the second quarter analysts are expecting VeriFone to post earnings per share of 42 cents on $489.09 million in revenue. The company has set its second-quarter guidance at 41 cents to 42 cents a share and full-year 2015 guidance at $1.78 to $1.82 a share. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.

On Monday, analysts at Raymond James upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform and set a $44 price target. Analysts at SunTrust bumped up their price target to $47 from $43 and gave the company a buy rating. The San Jose, California-based company provides technology for electronic payment transactions. Its system solutions consists of Point-of-Sale electronic payment devices that run its own operating systems and security and encryption software.